The 70-year-old Briton who died trying to save the life of his young female carer at a Goa beach

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Lisel Smith, 37, and her friend Stanley Horne, 70, died on Sunday while swimming off the coast of Morjim in North Goa.

Miss Smith is said to have got into trouble in rough water. Mr Horne tried to help her but both were dragged under by a strong current and drowned.

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Ms Smith's friend Stanley Horne tried to save her when she began to struggle in the water but both ended up being dragged under. Their bodies were found half an hour later

Her mother, Patricia, said: "I've just been into my daughter's home to feed her cat and I've seen all her pictures in there and it's made me feel so empty.

"My beautiful daughter was about to start the rest of her life and now she is dead."

Mrs Smith said her daughter was starting to get her life back on track after two years with serious health problems which had left her in a wheelchair.

"She had undergone several major operations involving a blocked trachea, so she'd had a real bad time. She'd had major depression.

"She had improved so much and was so happy with life.

"Stanley had recognised it and that's why he invited her to go out to India to see him because he felt she was ready for it."

Mr Horne, who had spent the past four winters in Goa, met Miss Smith when they worked together as nurses at St Saviour's Hospital in Hythe, Kent.

Mr Horne, from Bexley, had four children while Miss Smith, from Dover, was divorced.

"Stanley was a lovely man and a father figure to my daughter," said Mrs Smith.

"They were just good friends, there was nothing of a romantic nature between them.

"I don't know how I'm going to get over this and get on with the rest of my life. I feel so devastated, just empty and numb."

Mr Horne's son, Matthew, said: "We are devastated - our dad will be missed by his family and friends.

"We will love him always. It's come as such a shock."

Heather Horne, who is married to Mr Horne's eldest son David, described her father-in-law as a "quiet, gentle man" who was in love with India.

The pair's deaths follow the murder in Goa of 15-year-old Devon schoolgirl Scarlett Keeling, the suspicious drowning of Martin Neighbour, 39, and the drugs overdose of Michael Harvey, 34.

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